Compare the development of Spain, the Netherlands, England, France, Germany at the end of the 16th -17th century

Netherlands. At the turn of the century, it became the leading economy in Europe. Almost no reserves of raw materials, they created a developed manufacturing industry, a regular army and a huge fleet, both military and commercial. The Netherlands had the world’s first bourgeois revolution, which lasted from 1566 to 1648.

Spain. Despite the successes in geographical discoveries and colonial conquests due to private wars and the policy of the authorities, they came to the turn of the XVI-XVII centuries in a state of crisis. The Spanish lost control of part of the Netherlands and lost a significant portion of their fleet in a battle with the British in 1588. Stronghold of Catholicism.

France. She survived in the second half of the 16th century several religious wars between Catholics and Protestants. As a result, the Valois dynasty ended and the Bourbons came to the throne. An edict of religious tolerance was issued in 1598.

Germany. It represented a huge number of principalities, both Protestant and Catholic, in the vastness of the Holy Roman Empire, which was ruled by the emperor from the Austrian Habsburgs. The most developed principality can be considered – Saxony. The Reformation began in Germany and manufactories and printing were developed.